Elevating table



April 6, 1937. w. G. REYNOLDS ET AL ELEVATING TABLE 5 sheets-sheet 1 Filed Jan. 8, 1935 ATTORNEY.

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pril 6, 1937. w. G, REYNOLDS ET AL 2,076,186

ELEVATING TABLE Filed Jan. 8, 1935 ATTORNEY.

pril, 1937. W, G, REYNOLDS ET AL 2,076,186

ELEVATING TABLE ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 6, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFl'c Wellington George Reynolds and Gustave Schubach, Holyoke, Mass., assignors to The Reynolds Manufacturing Company, Holyoke, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application January 7 Claims.

Our invention relates to improvements in elevating tables. l

An object of our invention is to provide a table for receiving a pile, or stack of articles, such as sheets of paper, books, pads, or other flat articles, which will, as the articles are removed from the top of the pile, automatically raise, in order to maintain the top of the pile at a level best suited to convenience and ease of operation. A further object of our invention is to provide, Ain such a mechanism, means for releasing the automatic raising means, whereby the table may be manually lowered to a position for receiving a load or.pile of articles from a skid, truck, or other conveyance.

These, and other objects and advantages of our invention, will be more completely disclosed and described in the specification, the accompanying drawings, and theappended claims.

Whereas, our invention has been designed primarily for use in co-operation with the bookstitching and binding machine, for which Letters Patent of the United States of America were granted to Wellington George Reynolds, `afl-'1,937,- 979, on December 5, 1933,-we do not confine ourselves to this combination, as it will be readily understood, by those skilled in the art, that this elevating table may be used eftlciently in many different arts, and in widely divergentl fields, wherever it isy necessary, or expedient, to feed individual fiat articles to any mechanism, or machine, from a pile, or store, of such articles, near at hand.

Broadly, our invention comprises a table, or shelf, for receiving a pile of flat articles, a frame for supporting the shelf, a second lframe in which the rst frame is slidably supported, a screw, operative connecting means between the shelf frame and the screw, a motor, operative connecting means between the motor and the screw, a motor control switch, means for opening and closing the switch by contact with an article on the shelf, and means for disengaging the opera-A cn the une Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the motor con- 8, 1935, Serial No. 841

(Ul. Wil-62) trol switch, with cover removed, showing the switch in open circuit position.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the switch in closed position. l

Fig. 5 is a wiring diagram, including motor and switch.

Fig. 6 is a partial, rear view of the shelf frame. Fig. 7 is an underside, plan view, taken on the line 'I- l of Fig. 6, and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view, taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. '7. v

Referring now to the drawings in detail, in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout:

A shelf I, is supported by meansof the arms 2,. which form a part of a shelf-supporting frame 3, having vertical, side members 4, a connecting cross bar member 5 of channel iron and brace members 6. -The frame 3 is slidably secured in vertical, channel-shaped, side members 1 of a frame 8, comprising themembers 1, connecting cross members 9 and I0 at top and bottom of the members 1, respectively, and a central brace member II, by rollers I2, secured at top and bottom of the side members 4, which are located in the channel-shaped side members l. A vertical screw I3, rotatably supported between the members 9 and I0 of the frame 8, is operatively connected to a motor I4 by a worm gear I 5, worm I 6, pulleys I1 and I8, and belt I9.

An interiorly threaded two-part, or split sleeve `member 20, slidably secured on the connecting bar 5 of the shelf frame 3,' is held normally in engagement with the screw I3 by compression springs 2| mounted on rods 22, between the sleeve 20 and brackets, 23, secured on the crossbar member 5. The rods 22 are threadedly secured in the sleeve 20 and are slidably supported in the brackets, 23, and have secured thereon blocks 24, having studs 25, to which are pivotally secured link members 26. The link members 26 are pivotally connected to a lever 21 on opposite sides of a lever pivot stud 28 on the crossbar member 5. A lock lever 28', pivotally secured on the lever 2l and formed with a notch 29, is normally held in locking position, to prevent disengagement of the split sleeve 20 with the screw I3, by engagement of the notch 29 in a bracket, or clip member 30, on the member 5. When it is desired tooperate, or move, the shelf frame 3 and shelf I manually, the lock lever 28' is lifted out of engagement with the clip 30 and the lever 2l moved in the direction of the arrow 3| in Fig. 6, thereby moving the rods 22 and the halves of the split sleeve 20 apart and disengaging the split sleeve 20 from the screw I3. A

The motor I4 is controlled by a switch ,40, having an arm 4I to which is rotatably secured a roll 42, that normally bears, or rests, on the top sheet 43 of a pile, or stack 44, of sheets, or pads 45, on the shelf I. The arm 4I is hinged at 45, and provided with a locking clamp 41 which normally prevents the arm 4I from swinging on the hinge 46, but by releasing the clamp 41, the roll 42 may be swung upwardly and back out of operating position, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3. The arm 4I is pivotally secured on a stud 48 in the switch box 49, and has adjustably secured thereon an eye bolt 50, to which is secured an end of a contractile spring 5I. 'Ihe opposite end of the spring 5I is secured to a plate 52, which is pivotally supported at 52', in a bracket 53 in the box 49. A bar, or plate of insulation 54, secured on the plate 52, supports a metallic contact bridge 55 at its outer extremity. Wires 55 and 51, entering the box 49, through a conduit 58, are connected to terminals 59 and 50, secured on a plate 5I of insulation, which is supportedon a bracket 52 in the box 49. When' the bridge 55 is in contact with the terminals 59 and GII, as indicated in Fig. 4, the circuit is from line wire 53 to motor I4, to wire 55, to terminal 59, through bridge 55, to terminal 50, to wire 51, to line wire 84. In

operation, if the top sheet 43 is below the desired height, the arm 4I will drop, closing the switch, as shown in Fig. 4, and the motor I4 `will operate to revolve the screw I3 and raise the shelf I and stack 44. As the top sheet 43 approaches the desired height, it will contact4 the roll 42 and raise the arm 4I, until the toggle spring 5I snaps the bridge 55 out of engagement with the terminals 59 and 50, as indicated in Fig. 3, thus opening the circuit and stopping the motor I4. As sheets are removed from the `top of the stack 44, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the roll 42 will be lowered the thickness of the removed sheet, or sheets, at eachv operation, and after a few units have been removed from the ,stack 44, the roll 42 will be lowered suillciently to close the switch and again raise the shelfX I. Thus, the top of the stack 44 is maintained at a level at all times, having a very short range, equal to the combined thickness of a few of the units in the stack.

When the stack on the shelf I is exhausted, the shelf is reloaded, by releasing the sleeve 20 on the screw I 3 and lowering the frame 3, until the shelf I is at a proper level to receive va new stack from a skid, or other vehicle, drawn up to the shelf. As soon as the sleeve 20 is again engaged by the screw I3, the shelf I, with its new stack is raised, until the top sheet reaches the operating level, at which point the roll 42 opens the switch and stops the motor.

It should be stated that the spring 5I provides an eccentric stress, to move the plate 52 and the plate of insulation, which is pivoted at 52'. In Fig. 3, the spring 5I is above the pivot 52'; in Fig. 4, it is below the pivot 52.

What we claim iszr 1. In an apparatus for the purpose described, a movably mounted shelf, screw means passing through the shelf for elevating the shelf, when operated, means for operating the screw, a split nut normally engaging the screw means and seticallyv movable platform guided in said frame,

a screw journalled in said frame and passing through said platform, an internally threaded split sleeve the halves of which are each independently and slidably secured on said plat- 'f'orm and normally engaged on said screw for moving said,platform when said screw is revolved, lever and link means for moving the halves of said split sleeve away from the axis of said screw for disengaging the sleeve from the screw, and independent spring means for normally moving the halves of the split nut.

i3. In an elevating apparatus, a frame, a vertically movable platform guided in said frame, a

-screw journalled in said frame and passing through said fplatform, an internally threaded split sleeve the halves of which are independently and slidably secured on said platform and normally engaged on said screw for moving said platform when said screw is revolved, shafts secured in each of the halves of said split sleeve and extending in opposite directions, means on said shafts for normally holding the halves of said split sleeve in engagement with said screw, lever and link means connected to said shafts for moving the halves of said split sleeve in opposite direction to disengage the sleeve from the screw, and locking means connected to said lever and link means for holding them in sleeve-engaging position.

4. In an apparatus for the purpose described. a frame member, a movable frame therein, a shelf on the movable frame, a screw shaft journalled In the frame member, and passing through the movable frame, bracket members secured to the movable frame, a split nut engaging the screw shaft, a rod secured to each ofthe parts of the split nut and slidably mounted in the bracket members, a spring on each rod and located between the parts of the split nut and the bracket members, for normally moving the parts of the split nut into engagement with the screw shaft, a lever pivotally connected to the movable frame, links connected to the lever and to the rods which are secured to the parts of the split nut for moving the said nut away from the screw shaft, and means for retaining the lever in its inoperative position.

5. In an apparatus `for thepurpose described, a movable mounted shelf, screw means for elevatingthe shelf, means for operating the screw. split sleeves normally engaging the screw means and secured to the said shelf, means for retaining the split sleeves on the screw, manual lever and link means for spreading the split sleeves to disconnect the same from the screw means for permitting the shelf to be lowered, said split sleeve retaining means comprising a second lever connected to the manual lever and a latch device engageable by the second lever, as described, and weight means connected to the shelf for assisting in counterbalancing the shelf. I

6. In combination in an elevating mechanism, a shelf member, a frame in which the shelf member is slidably mounted, said frame Being provided with a base portion and a cross head, weight means for counterbalancing the shelf member, a 15 rotatable screw located in the said frame and having a bearing in said base and cross head and passing through said shelf, a split nut on the shelf engaging the screw for moving the shelf when the screw is operated, lever and link means stopping the motor when the shelf reaches a predetermined horizontal level, said means comprising an arm located in the path of the shelf, a pivoted snap switch in the motor circuit, and

^' operative connecting means eccentrically located between the pivot point ofthe snap switch and the arm. v

7.V In an elevating apparatus, a frame, avertlcally movable platform guided in said frame, a cross bar forming a part of the frame, a screw journalled in said frame and passing through said cross bar and platform, an internally threaded split sleeve the halves of which are independently and slidably secured on said cross bar and normally engaged on said screw for moving said cross bar when said screw is revolved, lever and link means pivotally connected to the cross bar for moving the halves of said split sleeve away from the axis of said screw for disengaging the sleeve from the screw, and means connected to said lever for locking the halves of said sleeve in engaging relation with said screw.

WELLINGTON GEORGE REYNOLDS. GUSTAVE SCHUBACH. v 

